Richard Grayson's University Days
by Manthor
Summary: A talk between friends about getting by in university and advice about women.Sometimes, the transition from superhero vigilante to average student is harder than it seems


**Dick's University Days**

Dick violently cursed as he looked over his marks. The transition from superhero vigilante who saved the world to a university student reading for a combined law and commerce degree in Sydney was not going very well at all.

It helped to have a familiar face around him in the presence of Greg, an old friend of Aziz, who had his own problems to deal with. He had completed a master's degree in psychology and was now doing a graduate program in law part-time, while running a video game development studio.

He looked carefully at his transcript and reviewed his practices in detail. Greg sat behind him on his bed, taking a swig from a bottle of rum. More than anything Greg, who was older than him by a decade, had a slight weakness for rum and vodka. Not that he was alcoholic.

"So…anything you want to say?" Greg asked.

"Anything to say about my epic failure?" Dick replied. He looked at the printout and felt his hands itch, eager to rip it up and pretend it was Deathstroke. Why was it he could fight metahuman criminals with ease but couldn't pass a simple exam? In fact, academia was more a source of stress for him than anything else.

"Listen, you don't need to be so hard up. You only failed two subjects you know."

"Right. _Only two?_ That's bad enough man! I…"

"Not used to failure are you?" stated Greg. "Don't answer, it's a rhetorical question. I've been there Dick. Remember, I've got a decade on you. I've been through this shit before and it isn't easy. Besides you only have yourself to blame."

"Sure. Rub it in."

"I'm not rubbing in. I'm merely stating the facts. The military made me a practical, pragmatic person who deals with reality as is. Hell, serving in the civil service, corporate sector or most any uniformed service makes you slightly more practical. That's what you do as you grow up. You're more mature than most of the guys in your hostel but you're still immature in many areas of life. Hell, I'm still uneducated about women!"

"So what do you really want to say? Get to the point already" Dick said, growing increasingly irritated at his friends presence in the room. "What almighty wisdom can the great Gregory Pereira, or Zethrei as you so like to be nicknamed, give me? Anything useful? How to ensnare women? How to get my shit together?"

At this Gregory sat up, his normally relaxed face now sombre. "Actually, yes I can. Like I told you before, and I'm repeating myself, you want employment or to create your own business. So you need good grades. Nobody gives a shit about the grades except yourself and your future employer right? Well, your ego took a beating. Doesn't feel nice, does it? You like what you're doing but you think university isn't for you? Too much time away from the books? Everyone faces that problem at sometime? Feel like dropping out?"

Dick grinned, trying to be a smart aleck as he cracked a joke. "Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were dropouts. Sim Wong Hoo was a dropout."

"Shut it and be serious. Yes, they are, but are you as competent as them in their business acumen? I think not. They're special cases Dick. You're not. You're just the average teenage guy who's got to work his ass off. You're independently wealthy with that trust fund of yours, but face it, you can't be a trustafarian forever can you?"

Dick found it wise not to mention that he was currently wealthy enough to buy over a significant percentage of Microsoft and Apple, in no small part due to the trust fund administered by Lucius Fox on behalf of Bruce. Not to mention the allowance he got from being a former member of the Titans. If he wanted to, he didn't need to work for the rest of his life and _could_ in fact live off his trust fund.

"Something I learned from living in Warrane College and International House was this; all the high-flyers, all those guys on scholarships and those high achievers, they all had a few things in common. They were smart, hard-working, self-disciplined, had a lot of stamina and were well-organised. Anything they touched, they turned to gold. What was their secret so that I could achieve it? Tell me."

Dick knew it was the lead up to Greg's main point so he nodded, deciding it didn't need an answer.

"Organisation and discipline. Get yourself a routine and stick to it. Give yourself sufficient time for relaxation and all your hobbies but make it a point to sit down and do your elbow grease. Also, work on your studying style. I know how you study Dick. It's party all semester and then you rush to cram in all your work. Doesn't work that way mate! It's adult learning and you need to do your own learning. That's the only way."

"Secondly, you need to find a balance in your life. The average person has five aspects; professional, spiritual, mental, social, cultural and physical. Professional deals with your work, spiritual deals with your life philosophy and religion, whatever they may be. Mental deals with your personality and habits, your behaviour. Social deals with your social network. Cultural and physical I don't need to explain. Hell, you can minus cultural off it and place it under social. Keep it at five."

"Your point?" Dick asked.

"I'm getting to it. In your case, replace the professional aspect with the academic since you're a student. The main goal right now is finding a balance. Seriously, you can be excellent in those areas but you have to manage your time and be prepared to sacrifice or at least redistribute your energy and time. They're limited you know. Unlike Bruce who likes to think he has no limits, all of us in fact do."

Dick winced at the crack at Bruce. Bruce and Greg had rather opposing perspectives on a range of issues, from social justice to criminal rights and the presence of metahumans and vigilantism. There was grudging respect of a sort but they were oil and water. They didn't mix well.

"Now we get to women". At this point a grin came across Dick's face. If there was one area they could both agree it, it was that for men everywhere, they were a blessing and a curse. Even for gay men as it were.

"That's one area I don't need advice in Greg. I mean…come on."

Greg cocked his eye. Since Starfire had left back for Tamaran, Dick had become a bit of a 'slut', if a man could be called a slut. Though more accurately Greg felt he was somewhere between a player and a man-whore. He played with their hearts, twisting them around even as he slept with them and left them afterwards.

Greg on the other hand was a serial monogamist, even converting a lesbian to the joys of men. Unfortunately, he'd gained the nickname of 'Sex Warrior' from his preceding girlfriends as well as the label of 'Revolving Door to Lesbos'.

"Anyway" Greg began, clearing his throat. Dick was an extremely handsome man and he did possess a physique appreciated by women. His part-time job was being an underwear model after all.

"Women are a problem for you, aren't they? Ever since –"

"Don't mention her. Just don't…don't go there" Dick replied warily. It was a sensitive topic.

"Guys always view women as a '_they_', an external force that can't be controlled. A force of nature. They aren't. It's when you make them the problem that you abdicate your responsibility. Essentially, you put a mysterious '_them_' in charge and complain about what they do to make your life a pain. That's one explanation and a valid one, but I could be wrong."

"Go on" Dick said. This sounded quite interesting. No matter how much bullshit Greg could talk in his wild moments, he was a well-read person who had a moderate amount of life experience and could give good advice.

Greg didn't mention he'd stolen much of his advice from the wisdom of _Meet Joe Black, _anime and manga and the writings of Michael Crichton.

"I thought that women were inherently different from men. And in formulating that difference, I objectified women. They were different. They didn't have the same feelings I did. They were they. The biggest problem between the sexes is this tendency to objectify the opposite sex and ultimately become powerless before them. Both men and women do this about the opposite sex _all the time_. They were '_this way_' or '_that way_'. They had this tendency or that mannerism. There was nothing **we** could do about the way **they** behaved. Here's a little secret.

Dick leaned in, waiting for punch line.

They're not so different. They're human."

"That's it? All that and that's all you've come up with?" Dick asked incredulously.

Greg smiled a bit. "I never claimed to understand them. I still don't understand women, simply because we're built so differently. It's not only culture but it's the neural wiring. I was raised in a Southeast Asian context and I'm marrying this girl who was raised in a Californian and Hawaiian context. I've tried courting girls and frightened them away because that's just me. That was my manner in that perhaps I was too aggressive or too strange. It's different for every guy."

"So there's no logical way to understand a woman? Is that what you're saying?"

"Well. No, there isn't. That should be self-evident shouldn't it, coming from the guy who dated a vigilante woman and an alien princess. Just be yourself and don't bother with thinking about them too much. They're just as human as you are with the same fears and hopes. But everyone has different fears and hopes. But there is one way I do know _how_ to please a woman…"

At the last comment a cunning smile appeared on Greg's face. Dick's interest got piqued.

"And what is that?"

"Well. A full body massage does wonders, but don't forget old Grafenberg…he hit the right spot."

In smooth repetitive motions, Greg curled his middle and ring fingers upward together, almost gracing the palm. He looked at Dick significantly. "In a 'come hither' movement, you see Dick?"

Dick shared a cunning look with Greg. "Yeah, I don't think I'll be forgetting that one for a while..."

"It hits the G-spot. And knowing is half the battle!"

"You practiced before?"

"I shall grace that answer with this reply; I am about to become a married man. And it is my imperative that my woman is happy. Speaking of which, I now have to leave" as he looked at his watch and waved to his young friend as he left the hostel room.

Dick shook his head in disbelief. University was so much more different than he thought.


End file.
